'Southern Arabia, by Theodore Bent, F.R.G.S., F.S.A., Author of 'The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland' 'The Sacred City of the Ethiopians' 'The Cyclades, Or Life Among the Insular Greeks' etc. and Mrs Theodore Bent' [‎124] (167/552)

124
THE HADHRAMOUT
work not to be in the way myself, as I had to put both arms
out of the next window to take out the slides, and to guess
at the focus.
The sultan, though his Hindustani was getting a trifle
rusty, said he greatly liked the company of Imam Sharif,
whose uncle had in some way befriended him in India.
Intelligent conversation he had not enjoyed for a long time.
He was certainly a little scandalised at Imam Sharif's lax
ways in religion, for he was one day sitting without his
turban when some coffee was brought. The sultan put his
hands up to cover Imam Sharif's head, saying:
' My brother, you are drinking with a bare head, and
this is contrary to the Koran.' The same remark was often
made in camp by people who looked into his tent. They
said, * Look! he is a Christian, his head is bare.' At the
same time no one thought anything of the Bedouin's bare
heads.
During this period of uncertainty we made several little
explorations of the surrounding valleys.
One day we started out with the sultan, who had on
his long coat, which made him look like a huge, sulphur-
coloured canary. It was lined with light blue. He, my
husband, Saleh, and a groom rode the four horses ; Imam
Sharif and I had our Basha and Mahsoud, and a camel most
smartly decorated carried the Wazir Minister. Salim-bin-Abdullah
and a soldier; other soldiers followed on foot. We went about
five miles to A1 Agran to see some ruins perched on a rock
beneath the high wall of the plateau, prettily situated with
palms, gardens, and wells. The ruins, which are those of
a well-built fortress, consist of little more than the founda
tion, but all embedded in modern houses, so that excavations
would be impossible. It must once have been a place of
considerable importance. There was a scrap of very well
cut ornament, which looked as if it might have belonged